So the couple had a lot of confidence - and family support - earlier this year when they opened the Waystation Alehouse and Grill at the corner of highways 49 and 26, just across Highway 26 from the former Waystation Cafe.

"It is all family run," said Marni Sparks, who along with her daughter Erica Sparks does a lot of the cooking.

She said Kevin Sparks tends the bar.

Restaurants in historic Gold Rush towns like Mokelumne Hill often feel pressure to chase tourist dollars. Marni said some friends suggested that she craft a menu intended to appeal to visitors from the Bay Area.

The Sparks decided not to do that.

"It is just not that important to us," she said of catering to seasonal tourists.

Instead, the couple is trying to build a steady year-round business by offering solid comfort food and low prices intended to appeal to locals.

We decided to test the comfort level on a recent Thursday afternoon. Erica Sparks greeted us as we walked in and we were seated immediately.

We were glad to have arrived around 5 p.m. because pretty soon all the indoor booths had filled. The crowd was a mixture of retirees and young families with children.

When the weather is good, some customers also sit at shaded tables on an outdoor patio.

The menu offers a variety of traditional burgers, salads, sandwiches and appetizers such as buffalo wings ($10.95) and onion rings ($6.95).

The basic gourmet burger with pickles, lettuce, tomato and onions as well as choice of sides (soup, salad, fries or coleslaw) is $7.95. We upgraded to the mushroom cheeseburger ($8.95).

The Waystation offers plenty of choices to its customers. The cheeseburger, for example, can come with American, jack or cheddar cheese. For $2, customers can add bacon to the burger.

We also ordered the fish and chips ($9.95).

Although the Waystation offers comfort food, it isn't fast food. Each portion is made up fresh, so we waited about 20 minutes before our plates came out.

The burger was fresh, juicy and supplied with plenty of pickles. The coleslaw that came as a side came dressed in a very traditional, tangy mayonnaise-lemon-and-sugar dressing.

It turned out that the Waystation cooks also know their way around a deep fryer. Both the breaded cod filets and the french fries arrived crisp and hot without any sogginess.

Marni Sparks said that though she keeps prices down overall, she does spend a little more for some key ingredients that make a significant difference in quality, such as the Icelandic cod and her french fries.

Families can visit the Waystation without running up a huge bill. The most expensive item on the regular menu is the fisherman's platter, which for $16.95 offers a cod fillet, two large prawns and clam strips as well as fries.

The restaurant also recently began offering a prime rib meal on Friday nights for $19.95.

Most entrees on the menu are less than $10. Typical choices are the chicken sandwich ($9.95) or the tuna melt ($8.95). The price of all burgers and sandwiches includes a choice of side.

Sodas and most other beverages are $1.95. Coffee is $1.75. Beer and wine are also available.

Amplifiers visible in the back corner of the dining room show the Waystation sometimes offers musical comfort as well. Marni Sparks said the restaurant is hosting occasional shows by Blaine Wood, who performs under the stage name "Woody" and is known for inviting audience members to sing with him.